Why
Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears
Scholastic / Tom Snyder
Telephone Number 1-800-342-0236
Target Population: Pre-K – 2
Subject Area: Reading
Reviewer: Jennifer Main
Program Description:
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears is a
software program that is based on the children’s book Why Mosquitoes Buzz in
People’s Ears, a West African folktale. The program offers a wide range of
learning to occur. Students will be able
to hear and read the story, recall main events within the story, identify the
characters, understand beginning, middle and end, identify letter sounds, spell
new words from the story, learn new vocabulary and word meanings and read and
listen to poetry. This program is filled with a wide variety of activities,
both passive and interactive. Students
or their teacher may choose level 1 or level 2 based upon the student’s
ability. They can also log on using home or school use, when school use is
chosen each student logs on as a record of the activities he/ she uses. The program begins with a 3-D Learning Cube,
as it’s main menu. The front of the cube has nine
cubes; eight of the cubes are labeled with illustration of the characters in
the story based on the order that they appear in the story, while the ninth
shows a movie camera. Students can move the cursor along the cube and see and
hear the title of each cube. Each character reflects different parts of the
story and includes three choices; read, watch or buzz game. Within each cube
the student can choose to read or watch each section of the story. The games
vary and they include; The Buzz Game, where students recall words from the
story, KAA, KAA Consonants, the objective in this game is to match words with
alike consonants, Wasawusu, The game Of Who where the
goal is to answer who questions based on the story and five other activities
that focus on what questions, more consonants, vowel sounds, sequence and
movement. The movie camera will play the
entire book as a movie. Whether the student chooses to hear the entire story or
just a portion the words will be highlighted so he/she can follow along.
Accuracy of Content:
I think that this program is not appropriate for the
target population of Pre K – 2. In my opinion it would be more appropriate for
grade 1-3. Pre K –K teachers may choose to project the program on a large
screen for use with the whole group, but I think that utilizing the big book Why
Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears with this age range would be just as
powerful. I believe that the program has too many choices and directions to
follow for younger learners. In my opinion they would be overwhelmed by the
many different directions that the program can take a user. The classroom
teacher of younger students could take some of the games used within the
program and make posters or game boards to be played whole class. There are
many other software programs that are literature based that would be more
useful to this population. I do think that this is a rich resource for grades
1-3. It retells the story and gives animation to the illustrations. The game
choices are learning tools that are motivating and interesting.
Technical Quality:
This program is easy
to install and run. It does require that a student uses the mouse and is able
to click. It also requires the student to make choices and move through the
program. It is aesthetically pleasing, the illustration come directly out of
the book and put to animation with sound. The colors reflect those from the
story not bright, but in sync with the folktale. James Earl Jones is the
narrator of the story and his voice is expressive and clear. The games continued with the same form of
animation, they were lively and creative. Students will be excited to see what
is coming behind each cube.
Use Of Technology:
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears is a
program that makes good use of technology within the classroom. It retells the
story and highlights the words, which allows the student to read along and to
identify unknown words. The games are curriculum based and presented in a
motivating way. The skills that are being reinforced are all interrelated to
the literature making the entire experience more meaningful to the student.
Students can make choices and do not need to go in order this promotes
interaction and allows the student to feel empowered. A classroom teacher may
pre-select which order student should travel in based on classroom objectives,
but there is a freedom to the program. A teacher can monitor where students
have been by having each them log on at the beginning. This will also tell you
how well the users performed during each activity.
Role Of The Student:
The student will have
many roles within this program. They can listen to the story and watch the
movie, read the story or participate in choice of ten games based of the
literature. The students will enjoy
watching the book come to life before their eyes. Emergent readers will build
confidence when the read along with the highlighted story. Some of the
challenging words within the story are highlighted in a different color and the
reader can click on those words to discover the meaning. The students may use
this program over a period of time, maybe listening and watching during one
session and then playing games during another time. Students could apply what they have learned
through a variety of responses that could include; writing about the story,
rewriting a chapter, reading another folktale, or illustrating their favorite
scene.
Role Of The Teacher:
The teacher should
introduce this book in advance as a read aloud. The teacher will need to
explain and model this program in detail. If this a
teacher is doing the introduction whole class she should project it onto a
large screen if available. The teacher
should also explore and decide which route she wants her students to take and
map that out for them. I would suggest enlarging pictures of the icons to quit
and even picture clues for read, watch and buzz for early readers. These could be displayed right on the
computer. The teacher can have the students work independently or in pairs in
grades 2 or 3, but I would suggest using a parent volunteer or paraprofessional
in grade one to keep students on track and to help with troubleshooting.
Teachers can have students log on or she may choose to log them on during the
whole class introduction. This allows the teacher to monitor progress. There are
extension activities and worksheets that the program offers. Teachers may use
these items or modify them to suit their own needs. This is a program that the
teacher should explore and plan carefully so that the students can get the most
out of it.
Classroom Usage:
This program can be used on an individual basis as well
as with paired groups. This program that teachers should not be used as a ‘free
time’ choice, it should be used deliberately to correlate with your
instruction. This would be an appropriate program to use when you are studying
folktales, sequence of events or a study of
Critical Summary:
Overall, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears is
a great addition to a literature-based classroom. The students will be able to
integrate the use of technology into their language arts experience. This
program brings the book alive with the rich read aloud voice and clever
animation. The games are motivating, curriculum based and easy to use for
students in grades 1-3.
Overall Rating: 10 out
of 10
Back to Software Table
of Contents